I am forwarding to you some important information about an unfortunate reality. Our community has a smoking rate much higher than the general public. The Surgeon General's report corroborates data that ARROW has gleaned from our ongoing survey of LBT health behaviors: 32% of our respondents (over 900 women) smoked. And the majority of them are under age 30.

As reported in the Advocate on January 17, 2014, a new US Surgeon General report finds that 33% of LGBT people smoke, compared to just under 20% of the general public, and that LGBT people spend an estimated $7.9 billion on tobacco products annually. "People ask ‘where are the disparities now?’, and we use LGBT as an example of one of those disparities,” said acting surgeon general, Rear Admiral Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH. “I'm a man in uniform and this is a war. LGBT smoking is important to us, because the numbers aren't good. What we need to decide is: What is the best strategic and tactical approach to bring those numbers down?" Click here to read the Surgeon General's report: The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress.